ARCAA

Flight Assist System Project completed successfully

veldman — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:51:58 +0000

The FAS project close out took place on the 20th of April 2012. The project commenced in January 2011 and provided a solution to reduce the pilot’s workload to survey vegetation near Ergon Energy’s powerlines. Through automation of lateral guidance of the aircraft, the pilot is able to focus more on other tasks associated with flying the aircraft. The project also delivered a flight planning software tool designed to automatically sequence the order in which the segments are flown. The system is installed on Seabird Seeker aircraft which are currently used to survey the Queensland network.

FAS and ROAMES team group photo.

More information on the FAS project, Click here

Swarm of Drones may keep us safe

pearson — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:22:01 +0000

A feature article on ARCAA was published in the Courier Mail. The article written by Courier Mail reporter Margaret Wenham, was based on an interview conducted in April of 2011 and features information about the potential future for UAV applications and how the capabilities at ARCAA can address those needs. The article can be read in full by clicking on this link http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/swarms-of-drones-may-keep-us-safe/story-fn6ck620-1226249753352

ARCAA Research Makes News Again

clothier — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:26:43 +0000

An article by Steve Creedy on ARCAA research into automated safety technologies was published in the Australian (07 Jan 2012). The article featured research on the development of automated emergency landing systems which can support the safety case for the operation of unmanned aircraft over more populated regions. This technology has the potential to open up new application areas for unmanned aircraft including traffic monitoring and law enforcement. The research is led by Dr Luis Mejias (pictured below). The full article can be viewed online at: The Australian.

Dr Luis Mejias

Aaron Mcfadyen receives the 2012 Endeavour Research Fellowship

pearson — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:50:32 +0000

Aaron Mcfadyen, an ARCAA PhD student, has recently been awarded a 2012 Endeavour Research Fellowship to further his research in Switzerland. The Fellowship provides financial support for postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows from participating countries to undertake short-term research (4-6 months) towards a Masters or PhD or postdoctoral research in any field of study in Australia. Aaron will be continuing his research at ETH Zurich and leaves for Switzerland in December.

Wesam Alsabban is awarded the iENA 2011 Gold Medal

pearson — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:42:52 +0000

ARCAA PhD student, Wesam Alsabban, won several awards at the iENA International Trade Fair held in October in Germany. From 800 contestants, Wesam won the iENA 2011 Gold Medal and certificate, the Genius Medal and Diploma from the Association of Hungarian Inventors and the Certificate of outstanding achievement in world competition of green invention from the International Federation of Inventors Association.

The awards were for his PhD research based on the Green Falcon II platform, a solar powered UAV which uses solar energy and wind power to minimise the onboard power consumption and to maximise the flight duration.

Reece Clothier wins the George Apostolakis Fellowship Award

pearson — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:27:15 +0000

Reece Clothier, Senior Research Fellow at ARCAA, has become the recipient, along with three other candidates globally, of the inaugural George Apostolakis Fellowship from the International Association of Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management. The Fellowship is awarded to an ‘early career’ individual who is active in the field of risk assessment. This award will allow Reece to travel to the PSAM 11 Helsinki conference in June 2012 to provide a technical presentation.

The Rod Walker Memorial Fund Announced!

clothier — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:02:59 +0000

ARCAA is pleased to announce the establishment of The Rod Walker Memorial Endowment Fund.

Professor Rodney Walker

The fund is named after Professor Rod Walker, who was the founding director of the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (ARCAA), a co-founder of the UAV Challenge (Outback Rescue), a founding Board Member of AUVS-Australia, a respected researcher and educator at Queensland University of Technology, and a passionate advocate for the civil unmanned aircraft systems industry.

The fund has been established to encourage, recognise and support those individuals and organisations who demonstrate excellence towards the realisation of Rod’s vision for the civil unmanned aircraft systems industry.

You can help us to keep Rod’s dream alive and to honour Rod’s name for generations to come by donating towards the establishment of the Fund (here).

An information brochure on the Fund can be downloaded here: Rod Walker Endowment Fund.

Find out more about The Rod Walker Endowment Fund here.

Rod Walker (1969-2011)

Andy Keir — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 06:42:00 +0000

Rod Walker
1969-2011

Professor Rod Walker (1969-2011)

It is with great sadness that we inform friends of ARCAA of the passing of Professor Rod Walker.

Rod was the founding Director of ARCAA (2005-2011), with a passion for the advancement of aerospace automation for the benefit of all Australians.

Rod’s enthusiasm and mateship will be fondly remembered by many. We will all miss his passion for his research, his students, his colleagues, the partnerships he established, and for his many projects. We will miss his sense of humour and his visionary leadership.

If you would like to share your thoughts, condolences and memories of Rod, please email rememberingrod@arcaa.aero

Invited Lectures by UPM Visiting Professor

Andy Keir — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 03:32:07 +0000

Prof. Pascual Campoy has finished a series of lectures at Queensland University of Technology. The lectures that were titled “Linear Automatic Control with applications in manufacturing and aerospace” were aimed to reinforce practical knowledge of 3^rd and 4^thyear QUT Aerospace Avionics student. Some of the topics covered included automatic control of a Boeing 747 model using Matlab simulink.This activity has been part of an ongoing collaboration funded by Caja de Madrid, the European Commission and the Australian Academy of Science through a FP7-PEOPLE-IRSES-2008 grant (PIRSES-GA-2009-230797 – ICPUAS).

Prof Pascual Campoy lectures 3rd and 4th year QUT Aerospace Avionics students

ARCAA on display at the 2011 Wide Bay Australia International Airshow

Andy Keir — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:33:04 +0000

2011 Wide Bay Australia International Airshow

Between 19-21 August 2011, ARCAA attended the Wide Bay Australia International Airshow, held at Bundaberg, Queensland.

ARCAA had a static-display of the Cessna Airborne Systems Laboratory, Flamingo UAS & Mobile Operations Centre. Duncan Campbell, Duncan Greer, Richard Glassock and Kenneth Andrews represented ARCAA throughout the three days of the show. Friday was a trade-only day whilst the weekend was opened to the general public.

Seabird Aviation provided their demonstrator Seeker aircraft which was situated alongside the ARCAA stand. ARCAA is currently working with Ergon Energy and Seabird Aviation to deliver the Flight Assist System project as part of Ergon Energy’s ROAMES program.

On display inside the MOC were simulations of the Flamingo UAS ground station and Flight Assist System, providing an interactive element to the ARCAA display.

Industry and the general public from around Queensland attended the airshow. ARCAA provided demonstrations to many individuals and groups including the Air Cadets, Girl Guides, Queensland Government representatives, and RAAF Roulette pilots.

More information on the Wide Bay International Airshow can be found here.

[View with PicLens]